


The Promise

by AlanSchezar



Series: The Zootopia Chronicles [3]
Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Engagement, F/M, Fluffyfest, Love, Romance, wildehopps
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-12
Updated: 2017-02-12
Packaged: 2018-09-23 17:19:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9668063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlanSchezar/pseuds/AlanSchezar
Summary: Nick and Judy are caught exchanging a kiss while babysitting her sister's kids, sparking a heartfelt conversation.Written in response to the story prompt challenge by NikkoNikko.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Featuring authentic 3yr old speech patterns! (I know from experience lol)

Judy smiled as Nick flopped down beside her on the couch with a melodramatic sigh of relief. As if by instinct, his arm naturally found its place around her shoulders, pulling her closer against his side. He shot her a sidelong glance and flashed his roguish smile. “How do I keep letting you rope me into these things, Carrots?” he said.

She let out a quiet chuckle, taking hold of the paw that rested over her shoulder and nuzzling a little closer under his arm. “Come off it,” she said, “You’re a natural at this; that silky singing voice of yours gets ‘em every time.” Her sister Lacey had asked her to babysit their three children while she and her husband went out for their anniversary, and Judy had brought Nick along. Of course it was a great opportunity to simply be together after recent harrowing events, but she also knew his singing ability to be a kind of secret weapon for putting bunnies to sleep.

“So it seems,” Nick said with a shrug. He reached out and plucked the remote from the coffee table, pushing play on the random romantic comedy they had picked from the movie collection. Lounging back into the plush sofa, he stretched out his legs, crossing his ankles over one another.

Judy nestled her head against his chest, relishing the steady, rhythmic thudding of his heart and the slow rise and fall of his breaths more than paying attention to the movie. She absently stroked her thumb over the spiral golden band with its trio of diamonds that encircled the middle finger of her left paw. Some twenty odd minutes passed in pleasurable silence, the two of them enveloped in each other’s presence, before she felt the need to speak.

“Hey,” she said softly, turning to look up and him, drawing back just enough to permit him to turn and look back, “Thanks for coming along...it...probably sounds really corny, but everything’s better when you’re with me.”

“Doesn’t sound corny at all, Carrots,” he said with a gentle smile, his lips curling back to reveal rows of sharp teeth that once would have intimidated her, “I know exactly what you mean...”

Without hesitation, he bowed his head, offering a tender kiss as his paw rose to caress her cheek. She met his kiss eagerly, slipping her arm around his neck and spreading her muzzle to deepen it.

A sharp little gasp from somewhere behind the couch caused Judy’s ear to snap upright. They drew back from one another, looking back to find the youngest of the three bunnies, little three year old Annie, standing in the doorway clutching her blanket and her stuffed rabbit doll. She was watching them with fear in her eyes.

A blush briefly flooded over Judy’s ears, accompanied by a shy giggle. “Caught!” she whispered to Nick.

He chuckled and grinned, looking over at Annie. “Did you have a bad dream, sweetheart?” he asked in a gentle tone.

She shook her head, staring with wide eyes at Nick, then Judy. “I...wanted some watoh, Auntie,” she said, her voice barely more than a squeak.

“I’ll get her some, you tuck her back in,” Nick said, giving Judy a nod before rising from his seat.

She smiled at him, then rose and strode over to Annie, taking her paw and leading her back to bed. They walked silently back to the darkened room where the other two children slept soundly. Judy took the little bunny under the arms and gently lifted her into her little bed, pulling the covers up under her chin and being sure to tuck in her stuffed bunny beside her.

“Mr. Wilde will be back in a minute with your water, sweetie, then it’s off to sleep again,” Judy said with a smile, kneeling beside the bed with her footpaws tucked under her rump.

“Auntie…” she said, looking at Judy with wide eyes.

“Yes, sweetie?”

“Was Mistoh Wiyohde gonna eat you?”

Judy was taken aback. She blinked in surprise for a moment before she realized what Annie was talking about. She had seen them kissing and misunderstood what was happening.

“His teef are weewy big,” Annie continued, pulling the covers a little higher, “And so _pointy_. It made me feew scawed in my tummy.”

“Oh, sweetheart,” Judy said, a knowing smile coming over her muzzle, “No sweetie, Mr. Wilde would never hurt me. He was giving me a kiss, like when your mommy and daddy kiss each other.” Judy softly patted Annie’s paws to reassure her.

Annie’s eyes got even wider, though her fear seemed to have given way to curiosity. “You’re not afwaid of his big teef?”

Judy softly stroked the bunny’s paws, watching the way the diamonds in her ring sparkled in the dim light of the bedroom. “A long time ago, I used to have that feeling in my tummy sometimes when I saw predators with big teeth,” Judy said with a faint smile, “But Mr. Wilde taught me to look at what’s inside a mammal’s heart. You see this ring I have?”

Annie nodded.

“This ring is a promise he made to me,” Judy continued, “It’s his promise to love me and protect me and stay with me forever and ever. So when I see his teeth now, they make me feel safe, because I know he’ll never let anything bad happen to me.”

“Oooooh,” Annie said, touching the diamonds with her fingertips, as if she could somehow take hold of the magic Judy had spoken of.

“That’s definitely true,” Nick’s voice broke in from the doorway. Judy half turned to see him standing there with a little glass of water.

He strode over and knelt beside Judy, offering the glass to Annie. She sat up, taking the glass in both paws. She stared at Nick over the rim of the glass as she drank, though her hazel eyes bore a look of awe rather than fear.

“Like your auntie said,” Nick said, casting a wry glance at Judy, “When two mammals love each other very much, one of the ways they show it is by kissing each other...among other things—”

Judy’s sharp elbow jabbing his ribs interrupted him.

“Which you’ll learn about when you’re much, much older, of course,” he added with a grin.

Annie emptied the glass and gave it back to Nick, who ruffled her head fur with an affectionate rub. “Night, lil carrot!” he said before rising and heading back to the kitchen to put away the glass.

Annie snuggled back down under the covers with a broad smile. “He’s not scawy,” she said, an air of finality in her tone, “He’s nice. I wike him.”

“Me, too, sweetie,” Judy said with a wink, “Me too.”


End file.
